Pyjama collection for children’s ward held in memory of brave Denver
Denver Clinton, with Melanie Share, who is collecting pyjamas for sick children in hospital. Photo: Submited by Melanie Share - Credit: Melanie Share
He was the superhero-mad boy who touched the hearts of many.
And little Denver Clinton is continuing to inspire all those who knew him, with the members of his band of brightly coloured Power Rangers taking on charity challenges in his memory.
The latest member - and founder - of the group, to take action in memory of Denver is 31-year-old Melanie Share.
The Beetley mum-of-one decided to hold a collection of pyjamas for sick children in hospital after remembering Denver's experience on the wards.
She said: 'On a visit to the hospital to see Denver, he was very poorly and unable to keep his feed in so had a very upset tummy.
'This meant he went through lots of pairs of pyjamas - then ran out of clean ones.'
Miss Share, who works as a nursing assistant in Dereham, decided to hold a collection of pairs of new pyjamas this Christmas to donate to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) children's ward.
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And after sharing the idea on social media she said she was overwhelmed with the response.
'It's just grown and grown - I expected maybe 10 or 20 people to reply but I've had over 1,000 notifications,' she said.
'I just think hospital gowns make them feel worse than their own special pyjamas.
'It's got to be quite controlled - I've got to keep a record of how many we've got and what sizes.
'You need shorts and T-shirt sets, in case they're warm, and long sleeve ones as well.
'They don't have a lot of facilities to keep washing them.'
Miss Share, who also runs a cake decorating business in north Norfolk, will collect the sleepwear, which needs to be new, with tags, in her garage starting from Friday, November 1.
She added: 'I will be keeping a record of sizes so we don't get too many of the same size [and] I'll be happy to collect.'
And Denver's mum, Wanda Clinton, will also be helping Miss Share with the collection.
'Wanda and I will then take these up to the hospital just before Christmas,' she said.
'I spoke to her before and she said 'I want to help you'.
'His first birthday and first Christmas without him are going to be hard. I thought this could help keep her busy.'
For details, follow Melanie Share's post on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1475769629187985/.
